Gangbanger who shot 5-year-old in face gets 16 years in prison

9:52 AM,
Jan. 11, 2014

Jose Rodriguez

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A North Plainfield man who fired the bullet that hit a 5-year-old city boy in the face last year was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison.

The young boy was walking home from school with his mother last January when he became an inadvertent victim of the city's gang warfare, getting shot by Jose Rodriguez, 19, Union County Acting Prosecutor Grace H. Park said Friday.

The victim's mother flagged down a passing vehicle immediately after the shooting and drove her son to the hospital. The boy, who had the bullet lodged in his neck, made a full, miraculous recovery, officials said. ...